INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN HONG KONG AT GRAVENBRUCH-KEMPINSKI HOTEL, FRANKFURT ON JUNE 14-15, 1982
ADDRESS BY MR R C LEE
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HONG KONG TO CHINA
Hong Kong has never received so much worldwide attention as during these past few years. Opportunists and investors alike rushed to Hong Kong to open offices which caused an unprecedented real estate
boom.
Both the General Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong have set up specialist committees on China trade and are deeply involved in encouraging further development of the Hong Kong/China connection.
Why the sudden surge of interest in China? China is abundant in natural resources with plenty of manpower but rather backward technologically, Since the open door policy and the modernization programme were announced, financiers, manufacturers and traders from developed countries have all looked forward to doing business
with China.
Lord MacLehose (then Sir Murray MacLehose) was the first Governor of Hong Kong to be invited to visit Beijing and tour West China which he did in 1979. At the end of his China visit, he attended the Guangzhou-
Kowloon Through Train Ceremony in Guangzhou. This event was significant because it signalled the beginning of communication in earnest between the two governments. The relationship between China and Hong Kong started to improve steadily during his term of office. This improvement is due, in large measure, to his foresight and great administrative ability.
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For quite a long time, the relationship between the Hong Kong Government
and the Government of China was strained, but even in those days, there was no animosity between the populations of Hong Kong and of China. During the great drought in Hong Kong in 1963, the late Premier Zhou En Lai ordered Guangdong to allow Hong Kong tankers to enter the
Pearl River daily to take fresh water. At the same time, an order was given for a feasibility study for supplying water to Hong Kong from the East River. This project was completed within a year and was a great engineering feat. The agreed quantity of supply for the year 1982 is? 182 million cubic metres which is equal to 150 days' supply at 10 hours' per day for a population of 5 million, Food from China for the people of Hong Kong has been adequately supplied without interruption for over a century, even during the Cultural Revolution. There was no doubt that the strained relationship between the Hong Kong Government and the Government of China, more apparent than real, was largely due to the short-sightedness of the former Colonial Cadet Officers and to
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